A statue of Lenin outside a government building in Minsk.

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Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svislač and Niamiha rivers. It is the administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In 2009, it had a population of million. The earliest references to Minsk date to the 11th century when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk. 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1569, it became capital of the Minsk Voivodship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. 1793 annexed by the Russian Empire Between 1919–1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.

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Size: 3455px × 5184px
Location: Minsk, Belarus
Photo credit: © Neil Harris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: art, belarusian, belorussia, belorussian, belorussiya, byelorussia, byelorussian, capital, communist, minsk, soviet, totalitarian, Белару́сь, Беларусь, Белоруссия, Мінск, Хаты́нь